The Melbourne Metro Tunnel will create 7,000 jobs in construction – including at least 700 apprentices. Local suppliers and manufacturers will be prioritised in the procurement process.

Federal Labor’s investment will end nearly six years of cuts and chaos from the Liberals in Canberra, which has left the Andrews Labor Government to do all of the heavy lifting on infrastructure investment in Australia’s fastest-growing state.

This investment means the Andrews Government will have a real partner in Canberra, so they can get on with delivering the pipeline of transport infrastructure that Victoria needs.

Despite Victoria being home to one in four Australians, the Liberals and Nationals in Canberra have slashed the state’s share of the federal infrastructure budget to as low as seven per cent.

The Liberals cut services so they can pay for handouts to multinationals and the top end of town.

Scott Morrison and the Liberals in Canberra are anti-public transport and
anti-Victoria.

The former federal Labor government provided substantial funding for this project in the 2013 Budget, but Tony Abbott took the money off Victorians and kept it in a locked box.

A Shorten Labor Government will unlock the box and give Victorians their fair share.

The Andrews Labor Government needs a partner in Canberra, not the Liberals’ cuts.

Federal Labor will work with Daniel Andrews to stop the cuts and deliver the infrastructure and jobs that Victorians deserve.

The Melbourne Metro Tunnel will dramatically increase the capacity of Melbourne’s rail network.

The construction of twin nine-kilometre tunnels from the west of the city to the southeast will allow extra train services to be added to the Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham, Sandringham, Sunbury, Upfield, Werribee and Williamstown lines.

The other key elements of project are:

Five new underground stations, with the two new CBD stations directly connected to Flinders Street and Melbourne Central stations for easy interchange with City Loop services;

High capacity signalling to maximise the efficiency of the new fleet of trains that will run through the Metro Tunnel; and

Direct and convenient train/tram interchange at Anzac Station to relieve the demand for St Kilda Road trams, the world’s busiest tram corridor.